Beauty
Einstürzende Neubauten Lyrics
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maybe saturn, maybe jupiter, in the early night sky over
berlin, from the windows of a taxicab, near potsdamer platz.
you think: beauty
no, this is not beauty, maybe not, maybe, this is the rest of it,
maybe not, maybe, the rest of beauty, maybe not, maybe, what remains of beauty, maybe not, maybe, what is visible, certainly, uncertain.
to form an adequate gesture for beauty
(you know that, don't you?)
so beauty remains in the impossibilities of the body.
The lyrics of Einstürzende Neubauten's song "Beauty" describe a moment where the singer sees a crescent moon and one of the planets - possibly Saturn or Jupiter - in the early night sky over Berlin from the windows of a taxi cab near Potsdamer Platz. At first, the singer thinks of this image as beauty. However, they quickly question this assumption and wonder if this is actually beauty or just a part of it. The singer considers that what they are seeing might only be the remnants of beauty, what is visible and certain, knowing that there could be much more to beauty than what they are able to perceive.
In the final lines of the song, the singer suggests that beauty is a concept that is not easily explained or defined, existing in the realm of the impossible. They note how the body is not capable of fully expressing or encompassing the depth of beauty, implying the enigmatic nature of the concept. Overall, the song seems to meditate on the elusive nature of beauty and the limitations of human perception and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
you see half the moon, its crecent, and one of the planets,
Observing the faint crescent moon and a planet like Saturn or Jupiter in the early night sky over Berlin, as viewed from the windows of a taxi near Potsdamer Platz.
you think: beauty
The observer perceives the scene as beautiful.
no, this is not beauty, maybe not, maybe, this is the rest of it,
However, there is uncertainty about whether this is true beauty or just a partial representation of beauty.
maybe not, maybe, the rest of beauty, maybe not, maybe, what remains of beauty, maybe not, maybe, what is visible, certainly, uncertain.
There is ambiguity about what exactly represents beauty, including whether anything else beyond what is visible remains to be discovered.
your arms would not be able to stretch as far as necessary to form an adequate gesture for beauty (you know that, don't you?)
The observer realizes that even if they were to attempt a physical gesture to express their feeling of beauty, it would always fall short.
so beauty remains in the impossibilities of the body.
Thus, beauty is something that cannot be fully grasped or communicated by our physical body, and is instead left in the realm of impossibility.
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